Sheryl Smith focuses more on growing fruits and vegetables after being diagnosed with Celiac disease.

By Anthony Martinez Beven

Special to Digital First Media

Genetically modified organisms - called GMOs - isn’t a term the average consumer may be familiar with – but Oakland University assistant professor of biological sciences Shailesh Lal encourages consumers to do their own research into the controversial topic.

Lal, who has been researching GMOs since 1992, said: “No one knows where our food comes from and what we are eating. As a democratic country, we should know what we are eating.”

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Food sold in most local grocery and convenience stores – even at sit-down restaurant chains contain GMOs – Lal said.

“This means taking genes from one organism and putting it in another,” he said.

“We have no way of knowing what foods contain them today. It’s totally secret.”

The Non-GMO Project is a nonprofit organization committed to preserving and building sources of non-GMO products, educating consumers, and providing verified non-GMO choices. The project maintains that organisms have been created through genetic engineering.

This relatively new science allows DNA from one species to be injected into another species in a laboratory, creating combinations of plant, animal, bacteria, and viral genes that do not occur in nature or through traditional crossbreeding methods.

“GMOs are across 90 percent of our food,” he said, noting that a majority of U.S. farming soil has been tainted with GMOs. He added this is where crops like corn, wheat and soy – key ingredients in most food products – are grown.

The effects of GMOs have on the human body and the nutritional value they provide are not known, as limited and de-centralized independent testing has been conducted due to opposition from major food corporations, Lal said.

“There are theoretical concerns over sharing DNA information with manipulated food sources when we know that food DNA provides information to our DNA. I’m concerned about the future and unknown risk of new health problems,” Kahn said.

Monsanto – a chemical, and agricultural biotechnology corporation with headquarters in Missouri – is a leading producer of genetically-engineered seeds and of the herbicide glyphosate, which it markets under the Roundup brand, according to a 2012 Wall Street Journal article.

The Monsanto website says GMOs have been tested and found to be safe. The site adds that GMOs have been “OK’ed” by public health oversight organizations.

Lal is quick to note that Michael R. Taylor, formerly Monsanto’s chief lobbyist, has been deputy commissioner at the U.S. FDA since 2010. He also held high-level positions at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).

“In Michigan, we don’t have any labeling of GMOs,” Lal said. “There should definitely be labeling for the consumer. In Iowa, everyone knows about it. Here, no one knows about GMOs.”

According to the Associated Press, Vermont Gov. Peter Shumlin signed a GMO food labeling bill that will take effect in 2016, allowing food producers time to comply.

Vermont is the first U.S. state to mandate such. There are currently no related legislative efforts underway in Michigan, Shailesh said.

“It’s lobbying. There’s a lot of money involved,” Lal said. “This technology holds a lot of potential, but it’s been ransacked by corporations.”

Highland Township resident Sheryl Smith, 55, wants GMO food labeling in Michigan. She attributes her celiac disease, which causes damage to the intestinal lining, to GMO intake. “I was in intestinal pain. I had low energy and diarrhea… I couldn’t eat,” she recalled. She lost 30 lbs. in a period of four to five weeks.

GMO poisoning is not currently an accepted medical diagnosis, said Christa Byrd, a dietitian with Beaumont Health System. But, Byrd added that unmodified, or organic, food has a stronger “synergy” with natural digestion.

“When those naturally occurring processes are modified in any way, the outcomes just cannot be predicted,” Byrd said.

Smith – who now takes over-the-counter probiotics, a “good” type of bacteria that aids with digestive health – considers herself lucky. She also removed gluten food products, and anything with corn, wheat or soy ingredients, from her diet.

Byrd said choosing non-processed organic foods will help to decrease ingestion of GMOs, but added, “It is a matter of personal choice and feasibility.”

Currently, Whole Foods Market – with Oakland County locations in Troy, Rochester Hills and West Bloomfield – has more than 6,000 products represented by more than 500 brands that are sourced non-GMO, said Whole Foods Midwest Regional spokeswoman Allison Phelps.

“We encourage shoppers wishing to avoid GMOs to choose organic products as all organic foods sold in the US must be certified to the USDA National Organic Standards, which prohibit the use of GMOs,” Phelps said. “We are serious about the claims made on the products customers buy.”

Other Michigan-based food retailers, like Meijer and Hiller’s Market, feature gluten-free food sections and GMO-free products, according to spokespeople for both retailers.

The same can’t be said for Michigan food producers. Kellogg’s maintains GMOs are safe.

Charles directs consumer to Kellogg’s Kashi brand if they want a non-GMO option.

Lal questions the safety of GMOs in the food chain.

“What happens when you use Round-up to kill plants?” Lal asked. “Now, we have Round-up ready corn, soy-bean, wheat. The corporations say it’s safe. Further testing should be done. The FDA says it’s safe… The consumer should decide whether they want to eat it or not.”

He said that in Europe there is a strong anti-GMO sentiment. In an October 2013 article, TheNation.com cited 26 countries around the world have banned GMOs. Significant restrictions on GMOs exist in about 60 other countries.

“If it’s banned in other countries, why is it OK for the US? That’s a good question,” Lal said.

“This has to be brought to the public forum.”

Lal said he does he part to turn the tide on GMOs by educating his students on the topic through lectures and teaching labs. He said he takes his lab students to local grocery stores to purchase vegetables to detect the presence of GMOs.

“We can extract the DNA to detect the presence of it,” he said, noting in his last teaching lab, 30 to 35 percent of leafy green vegetables were contaminated with GMOs.

“Our citizens should be asked if they want their food labeled,” Lal said. “When an average consumer buys stuff in the store they have no knowledge.”

Veteran journalist Anthony Martinez Beven is an Oakland County resident. He holds a double Bachelor’s degree in Sociology and Anthropology from Oakland University. He can be reached at amb71883@gmail.com and his Twitter handle is @Socmi.